Getting a higher education in Lawrence County just got a little more expensive.

Friday, July 06, 2001

Getting a higher education in Lawrence County just got a little more expensive.

With the state’s move to lift the tuition cap, coupled with shrinking state funds for public and some private colleges and universities, schools are hiking the main source of revenue – the price students pay to earn a degree.

Ohio University Southern Campus isn’t shielded from the rising tide of financial problems facing Ohio’s post-secondary schools.

All five of OU’s regional campuses will face a 7-percent increase in tuition for the 2001-02 school year and students at the main campus in Athens will face an 8-percent rise in cost. Increases at regional campuses will affect more than 8,000 students.

OU president Robert Glidden asked the school’s trustees to approve the tuition increase, stating increasing tuition was done out of "great reluctance and concern, but out of necessity."

According to a press release from the university, trustees also stated their concern and "unhappiness about the position in which we find ourselves," said trustee chairwoman Pat Ackerman.

The school, as with most schools, are attempting to find a way to "strike a balance between access and quality," said Glidden.

OU officials state the administration is searching for ways to hedge some of the cost students pay for higher ed. Glidden said OU will add about $3.5 million to the university’s scholarships. School administrators said funding for student aid will reach about $11.6 million for this academic year.

Other schools in the state are increasing tuition as well.

Most state funded school have increased tuition, with Ohio State University and the University of Akron raising tuition to 9.3-percent at each school. The cap that was placed on schools before was 6 percent.

Charles Bird, the vice president for Regional Higher Education at OU said, despite the increase in tuition, the school does not expect to see a decrease in enrollment.

"It’s unfortunate," Bird said about the increase but added the cost of tuition at OUSC is one of the lowest university tuition rates in the state.

This year’s tuition at OUSC will be $996 for the 2001-02 school year for full-time in-state students at the freshmen and sophomore levels, said OUSC’s new dean, Dan Evans.

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